Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sent fraternal greetings to the Chinese people and Chinese-Filipinos, thus demonstrating an open minded commitment to multipolarity which will help enhance prosperity and independence for The Philippines.

Duterte has said the following in his Chinese New Year greeting,

“I join the Chinese-Filipino community in celebrating the Lunar New Year.

He further stated that The Philippines “shares a long and colourful history with the Chinese”.

Duterte continued,

“This enduring friendship has contributed to our rich culture, stimulated trade between our nations, and fortified the foundation of our continuing quest for economic development. As an integral component of Philippine society. Chinese-Filipinos will continue to play an important role in shaping our national identity and in upholding the beauty of diversity in our respective cultures. Let the joy of this occasion strengthen our sense of solidarity and goodwill as a single nation committed to the preservation of our unique and multi-faceted Filipino heritage”.

Duterte’s heartfelt message has already been received graciously by the Chinese press who have embraced Duterte’s positive stance on regional issues.

When President Duterte first met President Xi Jinping in 2016, the Chinese leader hailed a “golden era” of relations between the two countries. Since then Duterte has worked with his Chinese counterparts to make firm commitments that renounce any violence or hostility in lingering disputes over the South China Sea, in spite of the agitations from impractical trouble makers who seek conflict rather than prosperity for The Philippines, a nation that can only benefit from enhanced ties with superpowers like China and Russia.

In reaching out to China, Duterte has not only shown the king of leadership which will benefit his country for decades to come, but he has indeed created a new model for Sino-ASEAN relations as well as demonstrating initiative in creating a new model of non-alignment for the 21st century.

The Philippines only joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1993, thirty-two years after its inception and at the nadir of its geo-political relevance.

Today however, both the concept of non-alignment and the Non-Aligned Movement itself, offer countries throughout the world the best opportunity to achieve the benefits of the “win-win” mentality that is associated with the 21st century – China’s century.

Into this framework, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has in his first year and a half in power demonstrated a clear model for non-alignment in the 21st century and one which if implemented across South East Asia, could help to further transform the region into the most economically and diplomatically dynamic in the world.

Non-Alignment Then And Now

The Non-Aligned Movement was formally founded in 1961, based on an earlier initiative from 1956 that was inaugurated by Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, Indonesian President Sukarno, Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru and Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah. The movement did not have a defined ideology in the way that the bloc of formal US, Soviet and Chinese allies had during the Cold War era. Instead the non-aligned bloc came to be seen as a diverse set of nations across multiple continents that sought to develop outside of the geo-political tutelage of any one superpower.

The group’s diverse make-up ranged from Indonesia which in the Suharto era became increasingly pro-American, North Korea which was stridently anti-American while remaining on good terms with both the USSR and China in spite of the Sino-Soviet split, Egypt which in 1961 was a Soviet ally but by the 1980s became a western ally, as well as India which was a de-facto Soviet ally, but one continually courted by the United States. Cuba, in spite of its formal Soviet alignment, was also a leading state of the Non-Aligned movement, as Castro felt that membership of the Movement helped to draw Cuba closer to the developing post-colonial world whose liberation was continually championed by Havana.

Philippines In the ‘aligned age’

Between 1965 and 1986, Philippines was ruled by Ferdinand Marcos which meant that Manila was Washington’s closet “ally” in the region. When Marcos was toppled in favour of Corazon “Cory” Aquino, it marked the beginning of a lengthy transition phase for Philippines whereby both the stability and authoritarianism of the Marcos era gave way to a period of open democracy which was set off with as a series of ineffective leaders who remained largely dependent on Washington.

The election of former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte as President in 2016 marked the beginning of a new era for Philippines that rejected the slavishly pro-American lethargy of the 1990s and early 2000s, while also avoiding the equal and opposite pro-American attitude of the Marcos era.

One Belt—One Road—Non Alignment

Duterte has not alienated Philippines from its traditional US ally, but instead has been able to turn Philippines into a model of non-alignment for a new era. As such, Duterte can already be named as one of the most important modern Filipino leaders.

Duterte’s Philippines has engaged in an historic rapprochement with China which President Xi Jinping hailed as a “golden era of relations”. By agreeing to work as partners rather than adversaries over matters concerning territorial and maritime rights in the South China Sea, Philippines has been rewarded with a most-favoured position in the eyes of the leading superpower of the 21st century, China.

Investment from Beijing into Philippines has already increased as a result and Philippines looks to play an important role in China’s One Belt—One Road.

Duterte’s New Model for ASEAN

Duterte has also developed historically strong ties with Russia and looks keen on cementing both a trading and security partnership with a Moscow that is eager to diversify its new partnerships throughout the ASEAN bloc.

Duterte has made it clear the era of a “colonial mentality” via-a-vis the United States is over. While the US Congress and state-funded American bodies disguised as so-called “NGOs” have taken a harsh line against Philippines because of this, Donald Trump appears to have a warm personal relationship with Duterte that continues to develop. Because of this, Philippines remains open to respectful trading relations with the United States, while clearly moving in a direction whereby China will become the most important trading partner for Philippines. Russia on the other hand, will play an enhanced role in modernising the armed forces of Philippines, thus reducing dependence on the US which has traditionally demanded a say in policy making among all states with which it maintains security agreements.

At the same time, Duterte has eased tensions with Malaysia, prioritising trading ties above long running territorial disputes, particularly in respect of Sabah.

Duterte’s model which stresses cooperation over mutually beneficial trading and security initiatives with both traditional partners and erstwhile rivals is fast becoming the model for all of South East Asia.

While both Indonesia and Thailand are quietly increasing their trade with China, Philippines under Duterte has taken a lead in articulating and implementing a model which stresses long-term cooperation with China.

Due to China’s status as the soon to be undisputed leading economy of the world and due to South East Asia’s regional proximity to the leading superpower, those nations which show a willingness to embrace the “win-win” Chinese model while abandoning the confrontational zero-sum model that the US has thrust upon much of South East Asia, will ultimately reap the rewards for doing so.

At the same time the Philippines models itself not as a Chinese “ally” but as a genuinely non-aligned state whose regional and global partnerships are designed to extract the greatest maxim of prosperity for Filipinos while minimising old conflicts. In this sense, the best trade that all nations can make is the swapping of territorial conflicts for agreements based on trade and cultural exchange. This model has been beneficial in minimising tensions throughout the world and while the US seeks to use the South China Sea as a means to sow discord among ASEAN members and between ASEAN and China, Duterte has proven that the opposite approach is the one which will result in mutually assured prosperity and increased diplomatic cooperation.

While Vietnam’s relations with the US have gone from a state of bloody war, to one of sceptical but increasingly close cooperation, China is nevertheless Vietnam’s number one trading partner. As a country whose relations with the US are far less historically intertwined than that between Manila and Washington, Duterte’s model could serve as a useful starting point for the necessary rapprochement between Vietnam and China. If Philippines can take a realistic “win-win” approach to China, Vietnam, in spite of a fractious history could eventually do the same, especially considering Russia’s historically good ties to Vietnam and its current superpower partnership with Beijing.

While Non-Aligned Movement members will never agree on everything, as this was never the goal of the bloc, there are clear generational leaders of the movement who typically attain their stature based on the ability to win new friends, increase meaningful sovereignty and prosperity, all without alienating former allies beyond that which is inevitable.

In this sense, Duterte has not only led a peaceful political and geo-political revolution for Philippines and more broadly in South East Asia, he has also become the leading light of the Non-Aligned Movement in an era where old global alliances are collapsing, thus renewing the importance of a movement whose inception represented a rejection of dogmatic relations with other states.